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According to ABC 7, Starbucks employees went on a 24-hour strike at two Southern California stores claiming that the company has unfair labor practices.
The employees allege Starbucks has interfered with their right to organize without retaliation, and they say the company has denied benefits to them because they're in a union.
Over 30 workers unanimously voted to strike in front of the Lakewood store off of Candlewood Street earlier today. Workers at a Barstow location were also supposed to strike as well.
One barista said that Starbucks announced benefits improvements like pay raises, sick time, and mental health days but only for stores who have not unionized yet. Tyler Keeling, a barista, said that, "they're trying to punish stores for unionizing...they're trying to pretend we don't exist."
Since last year, over 220 Starbucks stores voted to unionize and a store in Long Beach actually became one of the first stores in SoCal to do so. Head over to ABC 7 for more.